Festival celebrates Scandinavian cultures

Craft booths featuring colorful Scandinavian clothing and artwork dotted Issaquah’s Veterans’ Memorial Field July 26 as a live accordion played classic Danish, Norwegian and Swedish folksongs.

The occasion was the first-ever Lefse Fest, offering a generous dose of Nordic traditions including a maypole dance, arts and crafts and food specialties. The centerpiece was lefse, a much beloved delicacy.

By Hailey WayLeiann Ronnestad (front left), other attendees and the Risadala children’s dance group hold hands in a circle and move around the maypole at Veterans’ Memorial Field during the Lefse Festival July 27.

Lefse is a flatbread — rather like a soft tortilla — that originated in Norway and is usually made of some combination of flour, cream and potatoes.